Day Trip to Otsuki
Otsuki is on the way to Mt. Fuji and only a short distance from my home in Musashi-Sakai. I had a free day yesterday and decided to visit some sites there and hopefully catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji. I was lucky as the weather was good, it was sunny, the sky was clear and I was excited to explore the area, I decided to visit two main sites, Saruhashi or ‘monkey bridge’ as it is known as and Mt. Iwadono. The bridge was very pretty and had lovely artwork on blocks lined up along the sides of it. There were wooden steps on the lower part of the bridge, which were apparently created to replicate monkeys holding hands to form a bridge back in the 7th century. The view below was of clear turquoise water and high cliffs on each side. I sat by the rocks and had some fried chicken in the afternoon sun. The rush of the water below sounded relaxing and I sat there for some time taking it all in.
I then took a bus for about ten minutes to Mt. Iwadono. It was early evening at this stage and I knew I wouldn’t have time to climb the whole mountain but I did climb a small part of it and was delighted to see Mt. Fuji in the distance, glaring over the scattered houses and neighborhoods below. I sat on a bench while admiring the view and as I sat, I felt so lucky to be in that place at that moment on a Tuesday evening, when this time last year it was all so different. Mt. Fuji is really magnificent to see. It makes me feel humble and grateful which nature tends to do. I finished off my day with some ramen from a lovely restaurant near the train station. My aim now is to go back to Mt. Iwadono and climb it to the very top. Apparently it’s not a difficult climb which is great news for me as I’m not the best at mountain climbing. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a taste for mountain climbing and it will become my new pastime.